Oaty Coconut Nutella Secrets

I've always been a little smug that very little TV is watched by little people in our house.  Sometimes I'd give my right arm to sit them in front of Peppa Pig or Fireman Sam for an hour while I sit down and have a triple espresso and a can of Red Bull to kick start fading energy levels.  But in a vain attempt to be a martyr, instead I'll get them to help me bake a batch of biscuits.  What could be better for them than helping me mix all the ingredients, roll the dough into little balls, lick the bowl, then eat a biscuit as soon as they're cool from the oven - right?  I deserve a pat on the back or even a medal - hopefully the National Parents Council, or the like, will see this post!! 

It recently got me thinking that maybe I shouldn't be so smug.  Maybe sitting down to watch a little bit of TV might be better for their health (and weight) than tucking into a batch of sugary, buttery biscuits that we've just made. I think I should revisit my TV rule - I'm not giving my medal back though. In the meantime we'll just have to eat our way through these little beauties.

They are oaty, nutty biscuits that are crunchy on the outside and just a little bit chewy in the middle.  They have a dollop of Nutella on top and a spoonful of Nutella in the middle that's hidden away until you bite into them. I ran out of Nutella halfway through the process so had to use G&B's Chocolate Hazlenut Spread - delicious.  I made them first using a shortbread biscuit dough but I think they work better with the texture of the coconut and oats.

Makes about 15 cookies

Ingredients
140g (5oz) plain (AP) flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
100g (4oz) rolled oats
50g (2oz) dessicated coconut
125g (4.5oz) butter, softened
175g (6oz) soft brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
50g (2 oz) hazlenut, roughly chopped (plus additional for decoration)
15 tsp hazelnut chocolate spread (plus additional for decoration)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).  Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Measure out the flour, baking powder, oats and coconut and set aside.  Beat the sugar and butter together until creamy, then slowly beat in the egg and vanilla.  Beat in the flour, baking powder, coconut and oats, then fold in the hazelnuts.  Put the bowl in the fridge for about 15 mins to harden slightly.
After 15 mins, take the bowl out of the fridge and roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball and place on the parchment paper.  Use your thumb to mould out a hole in the cookie until you have what looks almost like an empty birds nest (don't make the hole all the way through the cookie).  Fill the hole with a teaspoon of hazlenut chocolate spread, then use a small piece of dough to put a lid on the cookie.  Ensure the filling is covered with the lid and use your fingers to attach the lid to the base of the cookie. 
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until just beginning to turn golden at the edges.
Cool on a wire rack.  When cool, smear 1/2 teaspoon of hazlenut chocolate spread on the top of each cookie and top this with a little chopped hazlenuts.

Chocolate Digestive Biscuits

I never intended to post these biscuits.  They are  one of the plainest biscuits you can buy so why would you bother posting the recipe?  When you're in the supermarket and want to pick up an indulgent treat, you don't automatically think "I'd murder a packet of digestive biscuits".  Or when you're planning a dinner party, dessert is never a toss up between Chocolate Pudding and Digestive Biscuits.

But it was a wet Tuesday afternoon.  I was under pressure to keep some little people occupied, having gotten all we could possibly get out of painting, playdo, lego and hanging up wet clothes on a clothes horse (you can make an activity out of almost anything, just depends on how you pitch it to them!).  Anyway, I decided that a batch of semi healthy biscuits from a quick and simple recipe was needed.  I've made a few recipes from The Little Loaf website before and decided to go with this recipe that she posted some time ago.

Was so happy with these biscuits.  They taste exactly as you would expect Digestive Biscuits to taste but with a little bit more texture from the wholemeal flour.  I made this batch a little bit thicker than shop bought biscuits but they were still as crunchy as they should be.  They taste so good and are so simple to make that I thought it would be a shame not to let everyone know.  For something less indulgent than you're used to making, these are the biscuits to make.  Well done Little Loaf for coming up with this one.


Digestive Biscuits taken from The Little Loaf blog

Ingredients:
100g oats
100g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g light soft brown sugar
Pinch salt
100g salted butter, softened & cubed
1-2 tbsp milk
50g milk chocolate (optional)
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Blitz the oats to a fine powder in a blender then mix in a large bowl with the wholemeal flour, baking powder, brown sugar and salt.
Add the butter and mix until crumbly. Add the milk and mix to form a smooth dough. Wrap in cling film and pop in fridge to firm up for about 15 minutes.
Remove your dough from the fridge and roll out to around 3mm thickness. It will be very crumbly so you’ll need to be very careful when rolling. Cut out circles of about 6mm diameter – I used a water glass to stamp out the shapes. Decorate with a pattern of your choice then bake in the middle of your oven for about 15 minutes.
When lightly golden but not too brown, remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water.  Smooth over the biscuits when cool.
Store in an airtight container.  They will stay crunchy for up to a week.

Green Tea and Chai Tea Biscuits

Teabag biscuits?  No way!

I was watching daytime TV the other day.  It's still a novelty to me since I've always had a 9-5 job so I'm NEVER home during the day.  Could daytime TV be one of the perks of having a new baby?  It absolutely doesn't compensate for the endless sleepless nights, but that's another story.  There was a programme on the Food Network about bakeries in the U.S.  They featured a store in Brooklyn that made only biscuits cookies and their range included cookies made from different types of tea.  I had never heard of anyone making biscuits out of tea leaves before (I mean, whats wrong with regular ingredients like chocolate and nuts?) so I decided I'd check out the web and find a recipe to try them out.  I bought Green Tea with Jasmine and Chai Tea and made a batch of each. 

Now, I'm kinda hoping that Santa will come to me at Christmas and buy me a really good flash for my camera and some artistic ability (why stop there, while I'm writing my list I may as well ask for toned abs and the ability to look 10 years younger!) so the pictures don't look amazing.  But I was really happy with these biscuits.  I just used a buttery shortbread recipe but the addition of the tea leaves takes a regular biscuit to another level.  You would have no idea that the black flecks were actual tea leaves .

Green Tea from M&S

Chai Tea from M&S

When I'm making them again, I'll cut them slightly thinner!

This recipe is adapted from www.thekitchn.com. I have kept the American cup measurements as it's easier than converting it!

Tea Biscuits
makes 2 dozen
Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon tea leaves of your choice*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon water
1/2 cup unsalted butter

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Pulse together all the dry ingredients in a food processor until the tea leaves are pulverized.
Add vanilla, water, and butter. Pulse together until a dough is formed. Form the dough into a log onto a piece of wax or parchment paper. Wrap the paper around and roll the log smooth. Freeze now, or chill for at least 30 minutes.
When chilled, slice the log into 1/3 inch thick pieces. Place on baking sheets and bake until the edges are just brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.
*One would think that expensive loose leaf tea would be best in this recipe. But I've actually gotten the best flavor with tea from cheap bags that I've ripped open. I think the leaves are more fine and flaky.

Custard Cream Hearts

When we were growing up any treats we had were made by my Mam, so scones, maderia cake and apple tart were all we ever knew – icing on cakes was never a concept I was familiar with!  On a very rare Sunday afternoon Mam would unearth a packet of bourbon biscuits from the back of the cupboard (probably the equivalent of Tesco “Own Brand”) and we’d all salivate at the very idea of being given a shop bought biscuits – oh the luxury of it.  The 8 of us would be allowed one biscuit each and then to democratically decide which of us got to have a second biscuit (probably only 10 biscuits altogether in the packet), Mam would write all our names on little pieces of paper, wrap up the piece of paper and Dad would pick out the names of the winners – the prize being one of the last bourbon biscuits in the packet.  How sad were we! 

I saw a recipe for custard creams in “Feast” by Nigella Lawson and it brought me straight back to the kitchen table 25 years ago, fighting over the last “fancy” shop bought biscuit.  In honour of my biscuit starved youth, I bring you “Custard Cream Hearts”.  They taste exactly like (but a gazillion times better than – I know, a bit of an oxymoron there) custard creams that you buy, even though the filling is much creamier and the batch I made was much thicker than a biscuit you would buy.  If there is such a thing as a luxury custard cream range, this is it.  Most definitely one of the best tasting biscuits EVER!

Custard Cream Hearts from "Feast" by Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

For the biscuits

175g plain flour

2 tbsp custard powder

1 tsp baking powder

50g unsalted butter

50g vegetable shortening

3 tbsp caster sugar

1 egg

1tbsp milk

For the custard cream

1 tbsp custard powder

100g icing sugar

50g unsalted butter (soft)

1 tsp boiling water

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180C

To make the biscuits, put the flour, custard powder and baking powder into a processor and pulse to mix.  Add the butter and shortening in teaspoonfuls and pulse to create a crumbly mixture.

Add the sugar and pulse again. 

Beat the egg and milk together.  Pour down the funnel of the processor with the engine running until it clumps together in a ball.  Go cautiously as you may not need all the egg and milk mixture or you may need more.   

Form the dough into a ball, press down into a flat disc, wrap in clingfilm and let it rest in the fridge for 20 mins.

Roll the dough onto a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 4mm and cut out your biscuits using a cutter.

If you feel in the mood, you can prick the outside of each heart all the way round (Nigella suggests using a corn on the cob holder, I used a fork – do you need to complete this step – I’d say No!).

Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 15 mins.  Allow to cool on a rack before sandwiching them together.

To make the custard cream, put the custard powder, icing sugar and butter into a processor and blitz together until you get a smooth cream (I used a free standing mixer for this – easier to clean!).  Add the boiling water and pulse again.

Sandwich each biscuit together with about 1 tsp of the custard cream.  Makes approx. 14 sandwiched hearts (28 individual biscuits altogether)

Can't Buy Me Love

Fork Biscuits and Coconut Ice

A perk of this gig is that you get to taste everything you bake, to make sure the fruits of your labour are worthy of putting in print.  Speaking of labour, tasting lots of baked goods does nothing for a lady who’s 8 ½ months pregnant and hasn’t known in months what part of the weight is “baby” and what part is “far too many cakes and buns”.

Part of the fun of baking is actually feeding people, especially when I’m feeding those who look forward to tasting some of my cakes and telling me how amazing they are!  Went to visit my nephews and nieces yesterday so I decided to make some “Fork Biscuits” and some “Coconut Ice” for them as a pathetic attempt to buy their love (my head is lowered in shame even thinking about it!).  They all went down a treat and I left with a smile on my face from ear to ear.  It’s the little things in life that give me pleasure.

My aunt has been making Fork Biscuits for years and years and typical of old recipes that have been passed on, they are as unfancy as you could possibly come across but they are also the most crumbly, slightly chewy, delicious biscuits you’ll taste.  She has always flavoured them with the zest of an orange, but cinnamon, ginger or chocolate chips can be delicious additions.   The ones in the picture are flavoured with orange and white / dark chocolate chips because that’s all I had in the house when I went to make them.  The recipe says to bake them for 15 minutes, but you’ll need to watch them like a hawk from 10 minutes as they very quickly go from underdone to overdone.  They never get a golden brown colour but they’re done when you see a little bit of colour at the edge of the biscuit.

I found a handwritten recipe for Coconut Ice in one of my Mam’s cookbooks.  Again, this recipe is at least 25 years old and I have no idea where it comes from.  Coconut Ice is basically a homemade Bounty bar.  What I love about it is that (a)if you close your eyes you could actually be eating a Bounty bar and (b) because the recipe is so old, it just sticks to the essentials, 3 ingredients and 4 or 5 lines explaining the method.  Simple, no fancy ingredients, no complicated technique and it works.  Delicious!  I haven’t changed any part of the recipe from my Mam so you can see what I mean.

These are both perfect for kiddies birthday parties but they’re too good to be reserved for kids only.  I firmly believe that either of these recipes wouldn’t be out of place if they were wheeled out with a cup of coffee after a dinner party for friends.   

Fork Biscuits.

Ingredients

110g (4oz) soft butter

55g (2 oz) caster sugar

150g (5 oz) self raising flour

Grated zest of 1 small lemon or 1 small orange

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C / Gas Mark 4.  Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.

Cream the butter, add the sugar, flour and grated zest and mix until it all comes together.

The dough can be used right away, frozen or kept in the fridge for up to a week until you need to use it.

Form into small balls, the size of a walnut.  Place on a baking tray and flatten slightly with a fork dipped in cold water.  Allow plenty of room for expansion.

Bake for 15 mins.  Allow to cool slightly for 5 mins on the baking trays, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Makes about 20 biscuits.

Coconut Ice

Ingredients

500g packet of icing sugar

397g tin of sweetened condensed milk

250g packet of desiccated coconut

100g bar of milk / dark chocolate, melted

Method

Mix the icing sugar and condensed milk until smooth.

Add the coconut (reserving 1 tablespoon as a topping) and mix well.

Form into small balls with your hands and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Leave in the fridge to set for about an hour.

Dip each chilled ball in the melted chocolate and top with a little of the reserved coconut.

Makes about 50 walnut sized balls.